


Morning Glory

by CaptainSophieStark



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainSophieStark/pseuds/CaptainSophieStark
Summary: After a Hydra weapon fallen into the wrong hands literally blows up in Daniel's face, Peggy is forced to cope with the aftermath. This one's a little angsty. Second of seven days of Peggysous writings for Peggysous Week 2020 😄Morning Glory Meaning: Unrequited love, restricted love, love that is in vain
Relationships: Daniel Sousa/Original Female Character(s), Peggy Carter & Daniel Sousa & Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter & Jack Thompson, Peggy Carter/Daniel Sousa
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	Morning Glory

Daniel's POV

"Alright, Thompson, you go distract the guards while Daniel and I sneak in and disarm the machine."

Peggy stood before me and Thompson, laying out the plan to get in and prevent an old Hydra machine that'd made it into the wrong hands from blowing up the state of New York. You could tell Thompson had come a long way since that first day we'd all met because he nodded along instead of trying to argue with Peggy's plan.

"Sounds good to me," he said. "Don't get blown up."

With that last comment over his shoulder, he was out the door and heading for the guards. Peggy and I would give him a few seconds, then use his distraction to sneak into the machine room.

"You ready?" I asked, glancing at her as we both got ready to move. I knew she was, but I wanted to talk to her to ease my nerves a little, if nothing else.

Peggy always made me feel stronger.

"Ready as ever. Let's do this."

She shot me a dazzling smile, and then we were through the door and heading for the machine. Thompson, thankfully, was actually good at his job (although I'd never tell him that), and the guards never even started to look our way. We'd only have so long before they caught on to him though, no matter how good he was at his job. We had to make our time count.

There was one last security room and door between us and the machine. The clock was ticking on the explosion as I started working on the lock, Peggy watching my back for anyone that might come try to stop us.

I'd just about finished with the lock on the door when Thompson ran out of distractions. The three guard's he'd been entertaining came bursting into the security room to stop me and Peggy, Thompson right on their heels. I tried to block them out; I knew Peggy and Thompson would watch my six while I finished the mission.

After another few seconds, the lock popped open. I turned to see where Peggy and Jack were and found them both tied up in fights with the guards, both incredibly focused on the task at hand. That left me to shut off the machine.

I slipped through the door before anybody could stop me and headed straight for the control panel. The thing was set to wipe out most of New York, and honestly, I had no idea how to shut it off. I found a dial that changed the radius of the blast, so I started by shrinking it as much as possible. The smallest radius would still send an explosion ripping through this room, but it would be pretty well contained beyond that.

I spent a few more minutes trying to find a way to shut the thing down completely, but with no success. I decided if I spent any more time on it, the thing would blow up and take me with it. It was time to get as far away as possible.

I started heading for the door where Peggy and Jack were just finishing off the guards. They turned to look at me, and I motioned for them to start heading as far away as possible too. I saw Peggy start for the door anyway, but before she could open it, the machine exploded.

Guess I waited too long to start heading out of there.

The shock wave of the explosion hit me like a train and knocked me straight to the floor. I blacked out, coming to right after only to realized I was laid out on the floor, pretty much unable to move. Everything hurt. My ears were ringing. Nothing seemed real.

Slowly, the edges of my vision started to get fuzzy. I vaguely registered Peggy reaching me, pulling me into her arms and begging me to stay with her as I completely lost consciousness.

****************

Peggy's POV

I was completely exhausted.

I'd been sitting in the same, horrible plastic chair for days now, under the same harsh florescent lights with the same slightly sickening hospital smell. It was all worth it though, to keep Daniel company. By some miracle he had survived the explosion, and he'd been unconscious in the hospital ever since. I wanted to make sure I was with him when he woke up.

Thompson wasn't exactly happy about it, because the two people he could rely on were both out for the foreseeable future, but he understood. He wanted Daniel to pull through almost as much as I did.

I tried to stay as awake and alert as possible, but after another half an hour I started drifting off. I couldn't get my mind off Daniel's condition, and I'd been trying to help Thompson with as much case work as possible from afar, so I hadn't been getting much sleep. I couldn't help my eyelids fluttering shut for a few minutes here and there.

I was just on the verge of passing out for what promised to be a very long nap when I heard a gasp from the hospital bed next to me. I shot up in my chair, turning to see Daniel, awake and looking around the room wildly.

"Daniel, thank God! It's alright, relax, it's okay. I'm here." I stood and went to his side, trying to ease him back into the pillows. He looked at me with wild eyes, and it felt like a knife to the heart. I managed to keep my face neutral though, which would hopefully help him calm down. "I'm here for you, don't worry. You've been unconscious for a few days now, but you're going to be alright."

"Who- Who are you?"

And just like that, my heart shattered.

****************

"The docs confirmed it again this morning," said Jack, coming into the room. "It's unlikely that he'll ever get his memory back."

I just nodded slowly, unable to even turn and look at my coworker and friend. I was staring straight out the window to the street, where I knew Daniel would appear any minute. There was nothing more I could do.

"Listen, Carter, you know we're making the right call here. Without his memories, he'd have to start all over again on all the training and work that got him where he is. He'd be dead before we could even teach him who Dottie Underwood is."

"I know."

I couldn't and didn't want to bring myself to say more than that. I heard Thompson sigh heavily as he came to join me at the window, watching the sidewalk for any sign of Daniel.

"We're doing the right thing for him," Thompson repeated, this time a little more softly. "He'll be safe, and he'll be able to live a happy life. I hate to say it, Peggy, but you've gotta let him go."

Right on cue, Daniel appeared on the sidewalk below. He was dressed in all new clothes, with an all new identity, and he didn't even look back as he hailed a cab and headed out of the city.

"I know you're right, Jack," started Peggy, fighting to keep her voice from breaking. "But I don't know if I can take losing the man I love again."

She broke off into a stifled sob, allowing herself one moment of weakness before forcing herself to carry on. Jack, despite his horrible track record with crying women, reached out to put a comforting hand on Peggy's shoulder.

Peggy took a deep breath and straightened, wiping a few tears from her eyes before they had the chance to fall. Her moment of weakness was over. It was time to be strong again.

"Come on, Thompson. It's time we get back to work. We're a man down, and it's going to mean a lot more late night working now that it's just the two of us."

****************

Three Years Later

"Are you sure about this Peggy?" Thompson asked, checking with the brunette one last time before she left the safety of their undercover van.

"Yes, I'm sure. Howard said another piece of Hydra tech has surfaced and one of his contacts is willing to meet—alone—to talk about it. We'd be stupid to pass up the opportunity."

"Yeah, but if things go south in that diner, you're gonna be on your own."

"I seem to remember being just fine fighting my way out of a similar situation in a diner against some of the SSR's best agents—including you."

"Fine," Jack huffed. "No need to dredge up the past."

Peggy shot him a grin before ducking out of the truck and walking confidently to the diner across the street. She was looking for a man with a blue and green tie, although she didn't expect him to be there yet. She'd arrived a little early in order to better scope out the loctaion.

Peggy tried not to look too out of place as she cleared the doors to a diner very similar to the Automat, casually taking the place in and making detailed notes in her head about every last thing she saw.

She noted the exits, the burly men at the far table, the waitress flitting around while keeping one eye on Peggy. She turned to find a seat in the corner to wait and watch for her contact, but before she could take a single step she was completely frozen in place. She'd missed someone very important while she was scanning the room.

Daniel Sousa was standing directly in front of her.

"Hey, sorry about that, didn't mean to almost take you out—say, you look kind of familiar..." Peggy's heart stopped as Daniel stared at her. "Weren't you the nurse with me in the hospital when I woke up from that head injury a while ago?"

And just like that, Peggy's heart broke all over again.

"Uh... yes," she managed to stutter. "Yes, that was me."

"Guess my memory's not as bad as they keep tellin' me then, huh? What are you-"

"Daniel?"

Peggy ripped her eyes away from Daniel at the sound of a new, feminine voice saying his name. She turned to see a pretty blonde girl come to stand by his side and give her a curious smile.

"Who's this?" asked the woman.

"Oh, this is one of the nurses who helped me after my injury, uh... sorry, I never got a name?" Daniel turned back to Peggy, who stood frozen for a few heartbeats before finally finding her voice.

"Peggy. My name's Peggy."

"Dinah," said the blonde, smiling and reaching out to shake Peggy's hand. "Thanks for everything you did to help my husband."

At the word "husband" and the sappy grins on the couple's faces, Peggy's brain finally gave out and shut down. The trio exchanged a few more pleasantries, then Daniel and Dinah moved past Peggy to sit on the other side of the diner while Peggy just stood there like a stone.

Somehow, she managed to keep from falling apart on the spot. She tried so hard to force herself to sit and wait at a corner table and carry on with the mission, to not let this get to her so badly years later, but she couldn't.

Sh marched back out the doors to the diner, concentrating on the click of her heels and refusing to break, no matter how much it felt like her heart was collapsing inside her chest. She climbed back into the surveillance van where Jack was waiting, and managed a matter-of-fact tone when she spoke.

"You have to be the one to meet the contact."

"What? Why?"

Peggy paused and took a deep breath.

"Daniel is in there." She couldn't keep her voice from breaking when she said his name. "With his wife."

Jack's face went from confusion to crestfallen shock in an instant.

"Shit. Peggy... I'm so sorry." Peggy couldn't even look at Jack for fear of completely falling apart, which she refused to do in front of anyone. "I'll go meet the contact, don't worry about it. You just... just stay here."

Peggy nodded once, keeping a determined gaze straight ahead. Jack shot her one more concerned look over his shoulder before ducking out of the van and heading for the diner.

Peggy counted to ten after he left, then let herself fall apart. She didn't have long before she had to get it together again, but if she tried to keep this bottled up, it'd kill her.

Daniel looked happy, which Peggy was relieved to see. His wife seemed nice, which was also a good thing. The only problem was that Daniel's nice wife was supposed to be Peggy.

Peggy screamed and cried and cursed a blue streak that would've made a sailor blush inside of that van. She knew she'd never be completely over the loss of the love of her life, but the explosion was enough to allow her to regain control of her emotions for the time being.

Daniel would always matter to her. He was a scar that would never heal. But, as Peggy took deep breaths and moved to the driver's seat to watch for their contact through the windshield, she at least managed to be thankful that she still remembered the time they did have together.

Forgetting the love of your life was truly a fate worse than death.


End file.
